With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of New Athens Township works elsewhere
Measured by household income, New Athens Township is behind 86% of U.S. towns. There are 283 jobs in New Athens Township, and 1,261 of its residents work somewhere. New Athens Township grades B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from New Athens Township, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in New Athens Township than ten years ago
Jobs counted in New Athens Township fell from 504 in 2014 to 283 in 2024, −44%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
New Athens Township is a place people come home to
There are 283 jobs based in New Athens Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday New Athens Township has about 1,400 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
New Athens Township’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Athens Township is better than 46% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds New Athens Township’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($51,786, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Athens Township could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The kinds of work in New Athens Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Athens Township, 2014 → 2024: 504 → 283. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs New Athens Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in New Athens Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,199 residents head out to work, 62 work right here, and 221 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in New Athens Township on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
11% of working residents work in Belleville
Where New Athens Township clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The daily trip from New Athens Township: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Athens Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,072 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from New Athens Township
About 15% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of New Athens Township commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Athens Township is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.8% across Illinois, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,133 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.8% of New Athens Township households have no vehicle (Illinois 11.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of New Athens Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
New Athens Township is 2,404th of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Prestbury IL | 2,045 | $165K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Wayne IL | 2,278 | $162K | 2.1% | 2.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,402 | Shadeland IN | 1,841 | $83K | 15.0% | 2.2% | 3% | B− |
| 2,403 | Navassa NC | 1,889 | $62K | 9.2% | 2.1% | 2% | B− |
| 2,404 | New Athens Township IL | 2,396 | $52K | 9.2% | 3.7% | 5% | B− |
| 2,405 | Union Township IN | 1,841 | $83K | 15.0% | 2.2% | 3% | B− |
| 2,406 | Antrim Township MI | 2,115 | $71K | 10.0% | 4.1% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of New Athens Township, the top three, the last and three more from Illinois.
How New Athens Township compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to New Athens (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Athens Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Athens Township | – | B− | B+ | 29 min | $51,786 |
| Lenzburg Township | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Freeburg Township | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Prairie Du Long Township | under 2% | A+ | C− | 37 min | $159,129 |
| Fayetteville Township | under 2% | B+ | C | 30 min | $100,858 |
| New Athens | 4% | C+ | B | 32 min | $56,553 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lenzburg Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Freeburg Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of New Athens Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in New Athens Township: questions
What is the median household income in New Athens Township?
$51,786 (±$14,274) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Athens Township?
9.2%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Athens Township?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Athens Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Belleville (11%, 13 mi), St. Louis (8%, 28 mi), Freeburg (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is New Athens Township walkable?
New Athens Township is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Athens Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Athens Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Athens Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.